The big difference between this race and the last one was that in both Lewis Hamilton knew what he had to do, but this time he actually did it.

The Hamilton/McLaren combination was comfortably quickest all weekend and Ferrari simply could not do anything about it, not even get close enough to him by speed or some wily stratagem to pressurise him into making a mistake.

Hamilton qualified on pole by three tenths of a second from Raikkonen and nearly sixth tenths ahead of his Championship rival Massa, even though the latter was fueled a lap lighter.

In the race, Hamilton made the best start and controlled it from the front, one oversteering lurch looking to be his sole mistake. Raikkonen was second for much of the race, but could not close significantly on Hamilton and Massa could not get close to Raikkonen, which resulted in a blatant handover of second place to his team mate with eight laps to go. Apparently, although team orders are banned, it is permissible for one driver to cede his place to another of his own free will. I hope Felipe bought Kimi a drink after the race.

Early on, Fernando Alonso had a bit of a tussle with Heikki Kovalainen, but the second McLaren had a puncture and brake problems, from which it retired, leaving Alonso to close in on the Ferraris. The Renault is now clearly the third fastest car, but BMW Sauber are miles ahead in third place in the Constructor's Championship. Robert Kubica's slim hopes in the Drivers' Championship disappeared when he could not get any balance in his car and could only qualify 11th. He came home sixth behind team-mate Heidfeld. If BMW knew earlier in the year what we all know now and had continued development, it would be interesting to speculate what Kubica's position might have been, but I suspect in reality it would have been no different.

The Shanghai circuit was the ultimate Tilkedrome before he came up with Valencia, so consequently the race was very dull, not even the threatened rain arriving to liven things up. Both Tori Rossi again qualified in the top ten, Vettel sixth and Bourdais tenth, but dropped out of the points after five consecutive scoring races. Vettel finished ninth and Bourdais again tangled with someone, this time Trulli, dropped to the back of the field and came home 13th. After an up-and-down year STR have yet to renew his contract.

Timo Glock could only qualify 13th, but finished seventh on a one-stop strategy. Nelson Piquet managed to score the final point for Renault, despite an off. Giancarlo Fisichella finished last in his Force India, but provided much of the entertainment in the race. It looked like frustration finally got the better of him and he held up a number of the leaders as they lapped him, who gave him the traditional jerky hand salute.

This has been a messy season with no clear-cut championship contender. Hamilton has a seven point lead, but his average score of the rounds he has scored in is 7.23, whereas Massa's is actually higher at 7.25. Both have won five times and Hamilton's advantage is basically down to the fact that he has finished one more race in the points than Massa.

Both have delivered dominant performances e.g. Hamilton in Britain and Germany and Massa in Bahrain and Turkey, both have made complete cock-ups like Hamilton in Canada and Japan and Massa in Australia and Britain. There have been team mistakes and strategic errors and races where the one team's car was miles better than the other's.

This will have been a championship decided by mistakes and whoever emerges on top will not so much have won more as lost less. If this had been in the Todt / Brawn / Schuey era McLaren would not have stood a chance, nor should they have done if Raikkonen had done the job he's paid to do. What we've had is effectively two number twos fighting for the title.

Going into the last race the odds look to favour Hamilton but anything could happen. Hamilton has been fast but flaky and looks brittle to me; post-race in China he said God was on their side, which always causes a sharp intake of breath. Massa is mighty on his own turf - we must hope for the best. For a summary of the season click here.

Meanwhile, there has been lots happening off the track. Cost reduction is the current hot topic in F1. Max Moseley adopted his usual negotiating tactic of saying to the teams. "This must be done, give me your proposals by such-and-such, if you don't we'll impose the following". One of the "the following" was a proposal for a "spec" engine, designed by one supplier, but then identical units would be made and badged by the teams!
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Not surprisingly, the manufacturers were less than keen on this, even Mercedes now own the engine maker formerly known as Ilmor, and it would be utterly unthinkable for Ferrari. The FIA even went so far as to put out a tender for a spec. engine, but agreement on cost-reduction has been reached. The main points are that engine life will be increased from two to three races from 2009 and manufacturers must be prepared to make 25 engine units available, at a cost of 10 million Euros, to customer teams. It also seems likely that transmissions must soon form part of any package, as they are virtually inseparable these days.

Max wants competition to be focused on useful, environmentally friendly technologies which will filter down to road cars. He said: "Technologies like KERS, as well as the recovery and re-use of exhaust energy and heat, should be the future performance differentiators in F1, not old or useless technologies such as ultra-high-speed engines or F1-specific aerodynamics."

I can totally understand the need for cost saving, the extensive banks' advertising in China and in the ad breaks on TV were frankly embarrassing. I can also see the need for F1 to be seen to be more green rather than the ultimate manifestation of gross consumption, but I cannot see how competition through KERS is compatible with cost saving. This will demand massive investment, which is only possible for the major manufacturers.

Customer cars are an obvious way forward to spread the cost, Toro Rosso having shown what can be achieved. But what if one or two of the majors were to drop out, either through financial pressure, political expediency, lack of results, or all three? Then the grid would be down eight cars, in addition to the four cars it is short already. What then? Four manufacturers each supplying three teams? Maybe the FIA hope that by "dumbing down" the chassis and imposing more spec. parts like suspension, wings, brakes and the underfloor (which have been mooted) plus heavily subsidised powertrains, the independants will be able to survive.

Finally, one wonders where this leaves Ferrari whose parent company Fiat do not have the massive R&D resources of the others and seem way behind in this sort of technology. They have only just announced a hybrid 500 and say the powertrain will go into production in 2011. Ferrari say they have not yet tested tested their KERS on track - I wonder how much of it actually exists? This could be a reason why one of this year's Ferrari engine customers Force India have already announced they will have some sort of technology sharing agreement with McLaren-Mercedes next year. So what does the future hold for Ferrari in Max's Brave New World?

Stop Press
There are reports today that the tendering process for a standard (spec.) engine is going ahead. FOTA Formula One Teams Association) has said that none of its members will apply.

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Kimi was on better form again

Bourdais hits Trulli for the second time this season

Raikkonen led Massa until he gave him second place

The Ferraris could do nothing about Hamilton

Glock got in the points again. Rosberg didn't

Kubica's slim Championship hopes disappeared

Team mate Heidfeld beat him this weekend

No finger trouble for the Scuderia this time

Renault and Alonso are now 'best of the rest'

Hamilton believes he has Divine assistance

click for FIA lap chart

Footnotes....

So not an exciting race even for those who were there then....

Max believes competition should be through road car-relevant technologies

Mr Lu (left) takes delivery of the 500th new Fazza to be sold in China

pics by Ferrari Media, FIA, Reuters, XPB, LAT, NFI & Sutton